The Energy Rises Beyond The Space
Talking about time and experience, and how it's maybe our most valuable tools
Over the weekend I met up with a TFIB reader (Stephen, a fantastic designer who recently moved to London) and we discussed many things like museums and art over breakfast. During his stay he visited the Joan Miro museum here in Barcelona, mentioning a quote from Miro that stood out to him, which nowadays feels so contrary to our busy lives. It read:
‘Yes, it took me just a moment to draw this line with the brush. But it took me months, perhaps even years, of reflection to form the idea.’
This really resonated with me as I’ve been having two related conversations lately that this quote ties to neatly.
One, is that good things (design, art, bread, wine) take time. Two, the fact that people’s experiences are formative to being able to create unique ideas.
wrote recently about time and how everything seems to be getting faster, which I thought was really well done. He wrote about the detriment of watching videos in 1.5x speed, or listening to audio books at an accelerated pace. Of watching TV and scrolling through TikTok at the same time, always striving to keep up. We’re so consumed with consuming that perhaps we’re not gaining anything from experiencing everything?
Stephen and I also spoke about AI, I subject were both exhausted by, and the effects it is having/will have. I brought up these recent works by Paul Octavious, his Fungiture explorations, elaborate chairs made out of mushroom looking pieces and parts. I saw this all over my TikTok and Twitter and was surprised that, A) Paul had created these, and B) they were a mix of photos he took in his studio and AI. And I found this project interesting because Paul was using AI as a tool to create something he couldn’t, an elaborate piece of furniture. In this way, the role of AI is more akin to pencil and paper. Paul as a multi-hyphenate creative brings a vast range of ideas to the table thanks to previous experience in photography and event work. Anyone could come up with the idea of mushroom furniture, sure, but ideas like these take experience and knowledge to really make them special.
Over the past few months I’ve been thinking about these kinds of things a lot as it pertains to what path I take next. Taking the time to figure out what is meaningful and using my experience to do something only I could do. What is the story I’m trying to tell? How do I create something that is familiar yet fresh? More to come soon, I hope, cross your fingers for me.
I've been contemplating how to be more patient with myself and the work I deliver since the beginning of the year as well. Interestingly, the more I reflect and read on artists in their 60s, 70s, or even 80s, the more I engage in an inner dialogue about where to focus my attention and try to add more daily practices to be less distracted by my phone. I am still in the process, but I am curious to see how this affects my work.